How Startups use Propaganda
It can be difficult for start ups, competing in the same space, to differentiate themselves. I've always been fascinated by the tactics employed by some to do just that.
Background: 500px is a photo sharing site. For full disclosure, I am the founder of a competitive service, Fotoblur. 500px within the last year has skyrocketed in its visibility and popularity. They've secured 525K in funding and tons of news coverage. However, their rise in popularity has been due in part by a media campaign based on the use of propaganda. For example, review the following news article titles:
Move Over Flickr — Hot Shots Love 500px
Why all the pros are leaving Flickr for 500px (Have ALL the pros really left Flickr?)
White-Hot Flickr Alternative 500px Raises $525K In Series A
Finally! Flickr Alternative 500px Launches Its Lightroom Plugin
All these articles have one thing in common - they all include Flickr in the title. TechCrunch is the worse offender here (they've seemingly changed the name of 500px to Flickr Alternative 500px).
Many of these articles imply that users of Flickr are jumping ship specifically for 500px. What is most amazing is that the proof is circumstantial at best and is based on opinion, rather than fact. Have ALL the pros really left Flickr for 500px? Highly unlikely. Is 500px the only Flickr alternative? Also unlikely.
One articles claims that Flickr users are dumping Flickr in favor of 500px. However, having a 500px account does not mean you have dumped Flickr. The usefulness in this tactic is that the article leaves that point out. For instance some Fotoblur members have Flickr accounts, and some even have 500px accounts for that matter, but Fotoblur has never claimed that they all left Flickr and 500px for Fotoblur. This is a creative manipulation of the facts to manipulate the audiences perception of reality.
However, whether these articles portray truth or not makes no difference and here is why. These authors, in portraying Flickr as the dying Goliath and 500px as the leading alternative, are utilizing a propaganda technique known as Card Stacking to change people's perception of reality.
Card Stacking is a propaganda technique that seeks to manipulate audience perception of an issue by emphasizing one side and repressing another (Wikipedia 2011). The following are some examples of the technique:
- Creating media events that emphasize a certain view, using one-sided testimonials, and ensuring that critics are not heard.
- The technique is commonly used in persuasive speeches by political candidates to discredit their opponents and to make themselves seem more worthy.
What is also interesting about this type of propaganda campaign is that other bloggers write follow up articles which treat the unsupported claims as truth. For instance in the article "Is It Time To Dump Flickr?", many of the sources listed above where used to make the case that it was time to dump Flickr. However, to be fair, this article does not necessarily jump on the 500px bandwagon either.
Propaganda can be a powerful tool to shape the public's perception of reality. However, one should be careful in the use of propaganda because if you claim something and don't deliver, it may hurt more than your credibility.